dschrimsher - Professional development

Component 8 -- Professional Deveopment

Join LM_Net for at least 7 weeks. Describe your experience. Identify and summarize the most important content / discussions / issues covered during the 7 weeks you participated. Discuss why you feel continued participation is or is not a good use of your personal and professional time.
- LM_Net is very useful for practicing Library Media Specialists. There are wonderful book reviews discussed daily, it gives librarians another source of opinions. There are several helpful technology discussions each week. Many types though, librarians are asking for suggestions and help on different topics. I believe the discussions are a wonderful way for school librarians to collaborate. I do believe that the creators should set up a blog or discussion website. This way you can go and read and respond as you have time. I do not like having daily emails sent to me from anyone, so that is somewhat annoying. I think that LM_Net is a great idea but needs to be reorganized. I most likely will continue to use the posting during my professional career as a media specialist.

The EDMD class reviewed seven (7) professional periodicals they considered essential for every school library media specialist.

Editor: Debbie Abilock
Issues: Bi-monthly September through May
Price: $20 per year for AASL members; $40 per year for non-AASL members; single issue is $12
Each issue has a general theme. The issue reviewed was volume 37, number 4, the March/April 2009 edition; it focused on Social Scholarship. The information in this issue would be helpful to library media specialists as well as teachers because it includes many practical applications of Wikis and other Web 2.0 applications for school use. Informational columns include ... This periodical is indexed in ERIC and you can browse issues at www.ala.org.
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Publisher: International Society for Technology Education (ISTE)
Issues: 8 issues – August, September/October, November, December/January, February, March/April, May, June/July
Price: $54 for ISTE members; $100 for non-ISTE members
Contents of Magazine: This magazine has four major sections.
1) Features: includes professional articles on current educational topics.
2) Learning Connections: offers ideas for integrating technology into the core curriculum.
3) Leading Connections: contains several different types of articles from controversial issues to readers’ comments. The professional articles found within this section are Issue Oriented, Point/Counterpoint, Research Windows, As I See “It”, and Voices Carry. The articles that provide the readers’ opinions are Readers Respond and Bloggers Beat.
4) Buyer’s Guide on technical equipment and What’s New, which highlights new technology emerging into the school setting.
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Publisher: Linworth Publishing
Published: Bi-monthly (ex. May/June).
Price: $44.00 for a one year subscription or $88.00 for a 2-year subscription.
- LMC contains articles focusing on how media specialists can assist with student learning.
- It has a “Copyright Questions of the Month” section.
- The “Hot Stuff” section provides links and ideas with web sites to incorporate learning through the media center.
- The “Technology Connection” provides ways to incorporate technology into learning.
- The back of every issue has several summaries/recommendations/reviews of books including fiction and non-fiction.
- You can find articles in databases such as ERIC.
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Amount: September – June 10 Issues $55.00
Tools: Contents page, Editorial, Activities Almanac, Into the Curriculum, Notes from the Field, Connect the Book, Author Central, Thematic Journeys, Web Monthly, Management, Reach For Reference, Key Words in Instructions, The Advocate, IF Matters: Intellectual Freedom @ you library, Keeping Current
Magazine Talk:
School Library Media Activities Monthly contains a content page that allows the reader to preview the titles and author as well as the page. The magazine includes an editorial, activities almanac, into the curriculum, feature article, and many more. The activities almanac is a listening of important events that happened through time, as well as major events that are observed and the dates. Into the Curriculum contains articles that highlight the major subject areas. For instance, in the May 2009 issue there are articles on reading/language arts and social studies. The magazine also includes articles that highlight books and authors. The magazine also contains an article that gives reviews on web sites.
Overall the magazine provides useful information that pertains to the media center. The magazine allows the patron to read reviews of books, web sites, and authors. The magazine also incorporates articles on current issues and curriculum.
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Review professional associations for library media specialists and post your written reviews to the webspace. (Professor will give you the organizatons to review).